Archive By Section - Education

Members of the Newton County Board of Education got their first look at the general fund budget for the next school year and with little money coming in, system administrators are trying hard to remain fiscally sound.

Eastside High School's Valedictorian and Salutatorian have enjoyed a healthy dose of competition for the last few years. In many of the same classes, both Leaha Wynn and Ariel VanLeuven seem to be friends and not begrudge one another their successes proving they aren't just exceptional students, but exceptional young ladies as well.

As a result of a generous donation made by Caldwell & Cowan Funeral Home, three Netbooks have been purchased for each of the Academic Resource classes at Alcovy, Eastside and Newton high schools and one for Sharp Learning Center.

To date, 52 out of 354 seniors have been offered 115 scholarships totaling $5,704,824. There were a number of different colleges and universities from across the nation that contributed to this year's class total. This includes all types of scholarships, such as academic, sports, military, music, band and merit-based offers. The class total includes 39 local scholarships donated through 22 different organizations totaling $110,450.

To date, 50 out of approximately 300 seniors have been offered 69 scholarships totaling $2,148,543. A total of 18 different colleges and universities from nine states contributed to this year's class total. Presently, they have accepted $1,978,343 of that amount. This includes all types of scholarships, such as academic, athletic, military and merit-based offers. This does not include the HOPE scholarship, which is calculated separately. The class total also includes 31 local scholarships donated through 21 different organizations totaling over $32,000.

Newton County School System (NCSS) students matched or outperformed their statewide peers on the 2009 Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT). As a result, the district's pass percentage rate increased in every category of the test in 2009, with the greatest gains in science and social studies, where the district pass percentage rates increased by three points, going from 86 percent in 2008 to 89 percent for both subjects in 2009. The district's pass rate for English language arts increased by one percentage point, going from 91 percent in 2008to 92 percent in 2009 – two points higher than ...

Being named Newton High School's Valedictorian and Salutatorian is an honor but for Sarah Lanners and Geoff Nolan, it's not too much of a surprise since both have worked diligently throughout their high school careers to get to this point.

Walking to a better future: More than 200 students at Oxford College of Emory University participated in the commencement ceremony on Saturday that marked their transition from the 2-year college to the second half of their university education at Emory. Visit www.covnews.com for more pictures from the commencement.

The Newton County School System and the Newton County Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce that Newton Medical Center has been named the school system's 2009 Cornerstones Partner of the Year for its outstanding partnership program with East Newton Elementary School. The award was presented at the annual Partners in Education/May Coffee Call sponsored by the school district and the chamber.

Georgia Perimeter College will close the Center for Continuing and Corporate Education effective June 30. A limited number of programs will continue through completion for current participants.

"Like other colleges and universities across the nation, Georgia Perimeter College is at a point that we must make deeper financial reductions in order to weather this rough economic storm," said GPC President Dr. Anthony Tricoli. "While it is necessary to discontinue some elements of this program, the college is committed to preserving our academic quality and our positive relationship with the community."

Oxford College will hold its 163rd commencement exercise on May 8-9. The event will begin with an interfaith service at 5 p.m Friday at Old Church near the historic campus. Approximately 350 students will be graduating from Oxford; having completed their sophomore year, students continue for their junior year on the Atlanta campus of Emory University. Speaker for the commencement ceremony which will be held starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday on the campus will be Dr. James T. Laney, president emeritus of Emory University.

Candice Denise Ballard will be inducted into the Beta Eta Kappa Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at Georgia Perimeter College on May 5. Ballard, majoring in education/teaching, is the daughter of Terry and Angela Ballard of Oxford.

In a recent speech to the Georgia General Assembly, Gov. Sonny Perdue explained how in the 2007-2008 school year, Georgia colleges graduated only one physics teacher, nine chemistry teachers and 140 math teachers. In an effort to provide students with quality teachers, the Newton County School System sent representatives to India earlier this year.

Dennis Carpenter, associate superintendent for human resources for the NCSS, said the system has signed an agreement with Global Teachers Research and Resources, which allows the system to hire teachers, as needed, in "critical needs areas" through them.